


Dream

by yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl



Series: Destiel [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Canon Compliant, Destiel - Freeform, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Castiel/Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28053654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl/pseuds/yourfrendlyneighborhoodfangirl
Summary: When Castiel is attacked by a djinn, he is sent into a dream where he finally gets everything he ever wanted. Sam needs to convince him to leave the dream world and come back to the stark reality of the real one- and fast.
Relationships: Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Series: Destiel [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958527
Comments: 4
Kudos: 67





	Dream

**Author's Note:**

> I know there are already fics like this, but none of them (that I have read) have happy endings. So here's happy ending for my idiots in love.
> 
> I wrote this while I should have been studying for finals...oops.

“Argh!” Cas grunted as he was thrown against the wall. The djinn pressed his arm across Cas’s chest, pinning him to the brick. He tried to swing the knife in his other hand, but the dinn grabbed that arm and twisted. Cas heard a crack as pain shot up his arm, and his limp fingers dropped the knife. “Sam!” Cas yelled as blue flames sprung to life in the djinn’s hand. “Sam, help!” The flames danced across his vision, which was getting fuzzy. There was a last bright flash of blue before his eyes rolled back into his head and the darkness overtook him.

* * *

  
  


“Sam!” Cas’s voice echoed down the hallway, and Sam froze. “Sam, help!” Cursing, Sam gently set down the injured girl he had been helping. 

“Allison, stay here,” he said stupidly, for where could she go in her state? “I need to go help a friend.” Allison moaned in pain and Sam raced down the hall toward Cas’s cries.

“Cas?” He yelled. “Cas, where are you?” He listened, but no reply. Not bothering to check the small offices off the hallway, Sam raced toward the main room of the warehouse, where the djinn had it’s lair set up.

They had been working a standard haunting when a newer hunter, Allison, had called. She had a case that seemed to be a djinn, and needed help. Leaving Dean to finish up the case, Sam and Cas had raced to her aid. They had found the warehouse and Allison, who had lost a lot of blood but was alive, when the djinn had come back. Cas had gone after it while Sam helped the injured girl out.

Emerging from the hallway, Sam scanned the huge, dark room. Taking out his flashlight and switching it on, he swept the light around. There was no sign of Cas or the djinn. And- _ shit _ -the djinn’s supplies were gone too. Nothing suggested that it had even been there in the first place. Switching off his flashlight, Sam listened to see if the djinn could still be in the room hiding, but there was nothing. The moonlight shone on the empty warehouse floor…

Moonlight? Sam spun around to find a door off to the side flung open. He heard a slam coming from outside, and he sprinted across the floor. He burst into the cool night air just as a car tore away. He quickly noted the license plate- 73B185.

Knowing the car had too much of a head start, and remembering that he still had an injured hunter on his hands, Sam walked back inside and found Allison, who was passed out against the wall looking  _ very  _ pale. Scooping her into his arms, Sam hurried out to the car. He needed to drop her at a hospital quickly and then track that car. 

* * *

  
  


Allison safe in a hospital bed, Sam drove to the police station. Hopefully he could find the car quickly. Time was of the essence- once the djinn started bleeding Cas, he wouldn’t have much more than 24 hours to live.

Sam winced. This was all his fault. Cas was human, and he wasn’t used to living without his angel powers. Sam should have kept a closer eye on him.

He shook his head. There was no use blaming himself. The only thing he could do now was find Cas.

He had already decided not to tell Dean. His brother had called to say that he was almost done with the case, and he shouldn’t need more than a day more. Sam knew that if Dean found out what had happened, he would drop everything to find Cas. He would worry, he would blame himself. It was better if Sam found the former angel himself, and they told Dean once they were all safe and back on the road.

Sam parked and hurried into the police station. “Agent Thompson,” the clerk nodded to him. Sam nodded back.

“I need you to find a licence plate for me,” he told the lone officer left in the building. 

“What’s the number, Agent?” he asked Sam.

“73B185,” Sam recited, and the officer punched in the digits. After scanning through some footage, he printed something and turned to Sam. 

“Alright, the car ran a red light five minutes ago, headed west toward Elizabeth.” The officer handed Sam a picture of the car speeding down the road. He highlighted the road and gave Sam directions.

“Thank you,” Sam said, taking the papers and rushing out.

“Happy to help,” the young man replied.

Sam sped down the road in the direction the officer had told him. The djinn wouldn’t want to go very far; it couldn’t resist stopping to feed off of Cas. Sam just needed to find the nearest abandoned buildings.

He was nearing Elizabeth when suddenly he slammed the brakes. There, down a country lane that was almost overgrown, was the car the djinn had been driving. Turning down the lane, Sam pulled up next to it. It was empty, except for a rumpled trench coat in the back seat.

It was dark, but in the light of the moon Sam thought he could make out a building further down the road. Sam reached for his knife, glad that he and Cas had both decided to get extra lamb’s blood. He dipped it into the vial, then started forward, bloody knife in one hand and flashlight in the other.

A rickety barn stood off to the side of the road. It was overgrown with vegetation and looked as if it would collapse any minute. Creeping inside, Sam shone his flashlight around. There were a few rusted tools and a ton of hay, but no sign of anyone being there in the last decade. There were a few animal stalls to the left, and Sam started that direction-

_ Wham! _ A body flew at him from behind and tackled him to the ground. Landing hard on his left shoulder, Sam rolled onto his back with the djinn on top of him. The djinn raised his hand, flames dancing on its fingertips, and reached to touch Sam’s face. With his knife hand pinned down, Sam slugged the djinn in the face with his other hand. The djinn lurched backward and Sam kicked it in the stomach, scrambling backward. Recovering, the djinn leapt at him again.

Right into his knife.

The djinn went down silently, but Sam didn’t stop to admire his work. “Cas!” He cried, rushing toward the stalls. There, in the back of the barn, his friend was tied up and hanging, a bag of his blood half-full beside him.

“Cas,” Sam said, untying him. “Cas, wake up.” The former angel didn’t stir. He was pale from the loss of blood and there was a bloody cut above his eye. His right arm was bent at an odd angle in multiple places. Sam fumbled for a pulse. No...no...there! A faint heartbeat. He sighed with relief.

Now, how to wake him up? Sam remembered when Charlie had been attacked by a djinn. Dean had used to dream root to go inside her head and snap her out of her dream. That was it! There had to be some African dream root in one of their bags. Sam hurried out to the car and mixed up the dream potion. He was heading back into the barn to get one of Cas’s hairs when his phone rang. Glancing down, Sam saw that it was Dean.

“Hey,” Sam said, trying to sound normal.

“Hey,” Dean said. “I finished up. Turns out it was the entire family, not just the mom...anyway, I burned all their bones and they shouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. How are things there?”

“Um,” Sam said. “Well. We found Allison, and I killed the djinn.”

“That’s great!” Dean said. “Hey, why don’t we meet halfway, maybe-”

“Dean,” Sam said. He took a deep breath. “The djinn attacked Cas. He’s alive, but he won’t wake up. I’m going to use dream root to wake him up.”

“Cas?” Dean said, his voice sharp. “You let him get hurt?”

“Obviously I didn’t mean to,” Sam argued. “Anyway, just follow my GPS. It shouldn’t take long, so hopefully we’ll both be awake when you get here.”

“Sammy-” Sam hung up before Dean could chew him out. There’d be plenty of time to do that later, when Cas’s life wasn’t on the line.

Sam plucked a hair off of Cas’s head. “Bottoms up,” he said to no one, and downed the potion.

* * *

  
  


Sam opened his eyes to someone shaking him. He shot up, almost slamming into Dean in the process. 

“Hey, Sammy, you fell asleep,” his brother said.

“Dean?” Sam asked, confused. How was he already awake? Had he gotten Cas back that quickly?

“Yes, it’s me, idiot,” Dean said, ruffling Sam’s hair. Instinctively, Sam smoothed it back down.

Sam looked around. “Where are we?” It was a house he didn’t recognize. He was lying on a comfy couch draped in a knitted blanket. There was a huge TV on the wall above a cozy fireplace, and pictures hung on the walls. Sam squinted...was that Dean? And...Cas? It almost looked like… his eyes drifted to Dean’s hand, where a ring glinted. Like a wedding picture.

“You’re at my house, idiot,” Dean said. 

“Your house?” Sam asked, not quite catching on.

“Yes, my house. What kind of a dream did you have that made you forget everything?” 

“Nothing,” Sam said. He looked over at his brother for the first time and did a double take. Dean was at the other end of the couch with Cas curled up next to him. The former angel was uninjured and asleep, nestled in Dean’s arms.

“You want to stay the night here?” Dean asked. “I mean, I know you have class tomorrow, but I could take you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll stay here,” Sam said.

“Perfect,” his brother grinned at him. “Let me go get some blankets, and I can make up the couch for you.” Dean planted a kiss on Cas’s head before exiting the room.

Reeling from the shock of it, Sam nudged Cas. “Cas?” He hissed, not wanting Dean to hear. “Cas!”

“What?” Cas muttered sleepily, his eyelids fluttering. “What is it, Sam?”

“Castiel, wake up!” Sam said as loudly as he dared.

“What?” Cas asked again, sounding annoyed. “What’s so important.”

“Cas, it’s Sam. I don’t know exactly how to tell you this, but… this is a dream.”

Cas’s eyes flew open. “No,” he said.

“Cas, you were attacked by a djinn when we were hunting it together, remember?”

“No,” Cas said. “No, no, no.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam said, and he meant it. “It seems like you have a nice life here, but… this isn’t real.”

“I know it isn’t,” Cas said, and Sam looked at him in shock. “I knew from the moment I got here. Dean would never...not in real life…” There were tears in his eyes now. “But it can be,” he whispered. “It can be, if I just stay here.”

“Cas,” Sam said gently. “We need you, in the real world. Dean needs you. The  _ real  _ Dean.”

“The real Dean doesn’t need me,” Cas said, tears streaming down his face. “The real Dean doesn’t love me. Well, I know he does,” Cas said before Sam could interrupt. “But not like this. He could never love me like this.”

“You’ll never know if you don’t go back,” Sam said. “Please.”

“What’s going on?” Dean demanded. He was standing in the doorway holding a pile of blankets. “Cas, what’s wrong?” He asked, rushing over and sweeping his...his husband… into his arms. 

Cas sank into the hug and Sam sighed. How was he supposed to convince Cas to leave this life? But then Cas pulled back. “I’m sorry Dean,” he said, crying. “I wish it could be like this, I wish I could keep this forever, but I can’t.”

“Cas, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dean stepped forward. “Stay with me baby, please. Come here.” He held out his arms.

“You’re not real!” Cas sobbed. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

* * *

  
  


Sam shot up off the hard floor of the barn, gasping. Next to him, Cas had also sat up, tears still streaming down his face.

“Sammy!” Dean cried, standing over them. “Cas!” He squeezed Sam tightly, then grabbed Cas. Cas closed his eyes briefly as Dean hugged him, and Sam felt a pang of pity.

“What the hell happened?” Dean demanded, and Sam flinched. “You!” He yelled at Sam. “You couldn’t tell me when my best friend,” it was Cas’s turn to flinch, “was dying? You couldn’t pick up your damn phone?”

“I-”

“Save it, Sammy,” he growled. “And you!” He wheeled on Cas. “Almost dying! Don’t ever do that to me again!”

“I’m sorry,” Cas sniffled.

“Why couldn’t Sam wake you up, anyway?” Dean asked.

Sam glanced at Cas. “Um, well…”

“Because I read a very interesting passage on the way here about how you can’t wake someone from a djinn spell if they  _ don’t want to be woken up _ .” Dean glared at Cas accusingly. “Why? Why didn’t you want to wake up? What was good enough in that dream that you chose it over us? Over the real world? How-” his voice broke. “How could you do that to me?”

Cas was crying harder now. “I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Dean said. “Go back to the bunker, both of you.” He stormed out of the barn. A few seconds later, they heard the roar of the Impala’s engine as Dean tore away.

“Cas-” 

“Don’t, Sam,” Cas said roughly. “Just don’t.”

* * *

  
  


For the next few days, Cas avoided Dean entirely. Dean had stumbled in the morning after the fight, hungover with his shirt unbuttoned and a distinctive mark on the side of his neck. Cas had locked himself in his room that day.

Sam and Dean were driving back from working a case together, and Sam could tell he was blaming himself. “Dean, why don’t you try talking to Cas?” Sam suggested carefully.

“About what?” Dean asked, not making eye contact.

“Pretending it didn’t happen won’t make it go away, you know,” Sam said

“I shouldn’t have yelled at him,” Dean said. “I was just so worried. How could he want to-” Dean’s voice broke. “To die?”

“You only yelled at him because you care,” Sam said. “But...Dean, he didn’t want to die.”

“Then how come you couldn’t wake him up, huh?”

“He didn’t want to come out of the dream. And before you ask, no, I won’t tell you what the dream was about. That’s Cas’s business. But you’re upset because you care about him. And he cares a lot about you, too.”

* * *

  
  


“Cas?” Dean’s voice came at his door. Cas flinched, ignoring the knocks. “Cas, let me in. We need to talk.” Cas stayed silent. “You can’t ignore me forever.”

“Yes I can,” Cas muttered.

“Cas, don’t make me break this door down. I will do it.” With a sigh, Cas got up and opened the door.

“Hello, Dean,” he said as the hunter breezed past him to sit on his bed.

“Cas, I want to apologize,” Dean said. Cas stared at his feet. “I only yelled at you because I was worried. I...I couldn’t handle it if you died. You’re my best friend. My brother.”

Cas flinched, blinking tears out of his eyes. Dean would always love him like a brother, and nothing more.

“I understand, Dean,” Cas said roughly.

“You’re still upset,” Dean noted. “What’s wrong?”

Maybe it was the days of solitude, of only exchanging pleasantries with Sam. Maybe it was the years he had spent, in love with his best friend. Maybe he was just an idiot. But for whatever reason, Cas told Dean the truth.

“You,” he said. “You want to know what was so great about that dream that I wanted to stay? Why I would die to stay there?”

“I love you, Dean Winchester,” he said, not daring to look at Dean. “I’ve loved you for years; I’ve loved you since I pulled you from hell. You showed me that humanity is worth fighting for. That it’s worth saving. And you are the reason why I saved humanity over and over, why I chose to  _ be _ human. That’s why I wanted to stay there. Because I finally got a world where  _ you loved me back _ . Where I could kiss you, where I could hold you, where there were no more monsters and saving the world, where we could be happy.  _ That _ is what I would die to have.”

Cas finally looked up at Dean, who was staring at him in shock. “You...you…” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Cas said. “I shouldn’t have said that. I ruined everything. I’ll just go,” he got up to leave the room, blinking back tears, when a hand closed around his wrist.

“Cas,” Dean said. “I’ll neer be as good with words as you. I can never say something as beautiful as what you just said. But...I love you too.”

Cas froze. “But...but…”he stuttered.

“I ran off that night because I was scared. Scared that I was going to lose you, scared of the weight of my feelings for you. I thought I could find someone else. But I still couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Slowly, Cas turned back around to stare at the green eyes he knew so well. The ones he had dreamed of getting lost in. “This...this isn’t another dream?” Cas asked, not daring to believe this wasn’t another of the djinn’s cruel tricks.

Dean stood up and pulled Cas gently toward him until they were facing each other. Cas could feel Dean’s hot breath, they were less than an inch away, but he didn’t look away from Dean’s eyes. “If it is,” Dean said. “I never want to wake up.”


End file.
